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Friday, February 3, 2012

Vacation is OVAH!

Well, that was my intention at least, but more on that later.

My boy went on an extended vacation in November, part of that was to make myself focus on Gwen, the other part was that the time changed and it was simply too dark to ride after work anymore. Apart from a bare handful of rides, Coriander's had the last three months off. Not to say I haven't done anything with him in that time- we've worked quite a bit on head lowering and getting him to follow the rein aids sideways and down- but I did it all with my feet firmly on the ground.

Now I haven't had the last three months off, oh no. I've spent the last three months puttering around on a 2nd/3rd level friesian (I'm still training level- mind you), I've become accustomed to a certain standard of carriage and have become "discerning." Meaning that when Coriander starts to get sluggy and floppy I'm going to notice, and I'm going to want to do something about it.

First, my boy who was used to wandering around the trails on the buckle now has to contend with contact. Not much contact, but enough to have a feel of his face. Walking forward even into this gentle contact has totally blown his mind, he initially took some convincing to keep going forward.

Second, those leg yields that I thought he knew? Well he's got one to the left but going to the right? He immediately falls on his right shoulder with his hindquarters trailing out helplessly to the left. How did I never notice this before?

Third, I've now incorporated some equine pilates to the ride. Now when I throw in a halt I add the butt pinch to ask him to raise his back. Hopefully this will help him gain some of the back strength he needs to carry us better? Time will tell.

Fourth, forward! Last Monday I had a great lesson on the friesian where we worked on gait transitions within the walk and trot (working walk/trot, medium walk/trot, short/semi-collected walk/trot). I immediately thought of Coriander, the transitions within the walk could be a great exercise to help him get back in shape! Well, the next day I pulled out the bareback pad and gave it a try. The results were interesting.

Coriander has a fantastic walk, it's one of my favorite things about him. Sometimes, when he really gets going, it feels like he's actually doing a running walk- it's wicked smooth and it feels like his hind feet are landing directly below his sternum. That horse can move! Unless he doesn't want to, in which case he plugs around like a beginner school horse with his feet glued to the ground. My first task was to get him to actually move instead of plug around -while having a feel of his face. Trying for medium walk from that was also a little difficult, I'm not really sure there was any change in his stride length at all. But the worst was when I tried to get him to pull himself together and shorten his strides.

"Would you like to halt?" he said. "No, keep going forward."

"How about a leg yield?" "No, keep going forward."

"Shall I pop my shoulders out?" "No, keep going forward."

He did eventually get a few strides forward, for which he was promptly rewarded. After this I kept it up, changing the length of his strides until for one brief, shining step he actually lifted his back and stretched his face forward into my hands. Holy cow, click and treat for that one!

And of course, my brain was instantly flooded with images like this: of a quarter horse actually winning at PSG.

Hey, it's just one stride, but every journey starts with just one step. Then he did something else great: When I asked him to halt and lift his back again, he actually stretched down and stayed in that position on his own- which I thought was pretty danged cool. Coriander may have used his back for the very first time and now needed to stretch!

Unfortunately since Tuesday, my back has been on revolt and I haven't been able to ride. As soon as I can ride again I'm going to keep exploring this exercise and see where it takes us. Self carriage school has begun!

15 comments:

For Val and I, it is most often just a "brief shining" moment when self carriage / reaching into contact happens. And thoroughly mind blowing when it lasts any time at all. Best feeling ever - lets have more. :)

I remember that you wrote about the "butt pinch" before. I have to admit that my instructor teaches the exact opposite. She wants me to soften the muscles around my pelvis so that I am closer to the horse and solidly down in the saddle. Pinching sounds like it would cause the horse to drop his back away. Maybe I am hung up on the wordage.

I think that Coriander will like his new playlist. That walk sounds amazing!

It does seem counter-intuitive and I was also very skeptical until I tried it and Coriander instantly raised his back. That sold me. In case you want to look into it, Mary Wanless also suggests using the butt pinch and putting your weight into your thighs- apparently this gets your weight off the horse's back so they'll be more likely to lift it? That's what I've been playing around with anyway.

I am flattered that you asked your trainer about it. I just wrote about a recent riding lesson focused on my seat. I hope you find it interesting.

I went to the Mary Wanless website and looked over her glossary. My understanding is that she encourages isometric tone, rather than a muscular pinch (which is what I was imagining), to bring all seat points in contact with the saddle. This does make sense to me and is one of the reasons that I had to find a saddle with a wider seat designed for the female pelvis. Since I tend to be a high muscle tone rider to begin with, I understand why I need more focus toward letting muscles go so that I can make and keep contact with all my seat points, all the time. Perhaps, Coriander lifts his back, because he feels your entire seat like a supportive platform that he can push into when you "pinch" and make your whole seat available to him.

Thanks for the reply to my comment. You really got the wheels turning.

They say (whoever they are) that the walk is the hardest thing to get. Sounds like Coriander is there already with his wonderful forward walk. I think it's so great that you were taking lessons on the Friesan it really gives you a good starting point in what to look for when riding your horses. Have fun and hope your back feels better soon.

Nothing like getting lessons on a really good schoolmaster to improve your riding! Unfortunately for me, out here at the back of beyond quality instructors with schoolmasters are a bit thin on the ground.

I think Cassie is a bit like Coriander, she has a great walk when she wants to, but if she doesn't it feels like a donkey plodding along on the beach.

I find this very interesting. What exactly is a butt pinch. My two boys couldn't be MORE different. My QH is 14.2 and short-backed and my half Friesian/Paint is 16 and growing. I haven't ridden him yet, my trainer is still working with him and I want him plenty trail ridden and a number of hours put on his back before I get on. But I KNOW I'm in for a whole different ride. And I will be working him towards dressage moves... I'm very excited.

How do you like the trot, the canter, on the Friesian. My boy looks more Freisian than Paint, but he doesn't have as huge a move as the Friesians.

I think it is great that you are able to transfer what you learned to your QH. Did you know that there is such a thing as Western Dressage. I'm looking into it and might be posting about it soon on my blog. (I did just start riding in a dressage saddle vs. an "All Purpose" and like it SO much better! I'd love to hear more of how your riding lessons are improving your QH's. :)

Lilly has a really amazing, forward walk too, but the problem is it's way too fast for western and I keep trying to get her to slow it down. I've been doing a lot of butt pinching too and Lilly really responds to it. Now if only we could get a glimmer of self-carriage...

Wow, you're really thinking about things and learning a lot. I've taken riding lessons on instructor horses before and it helped quite a bit to feel how it "should" go as well as making it easier for me to concentrate on what I was doing. I'm going to sign back up for instruction again this year.